22 Minutes
by ValSilph
Summary: It was the longest blackout in Ember history, exactly 22 minutes long. But after the first seventeen minutes, Lina wasn’t worrying.


**Hey ya'll :D I was pleasantly surprised to find how many people had liked my other CoE story, The Sunrise. Thank you so much for reading it and taking the time to review it.*hugs* After a long week of writer's block, I've written another one. 3 _enjoy!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The City of Ember, the characters, the book, or the movie [sob]. In this story there is one line taken directly from the book_:"But the darkness seemed to fill not only the city around her, but the inside of her head as well."_ I don't own that, Jeanne DuPrau does (as well as the quote at the end).**

22 Minutes

After stopping by Doon's house to show him her discovery, Lina was heading home. She had only gotten a few doors down though, when suddenly, the lights went out.

Lina stood stock still for a long moment, her heart pounding in her chest. There had been no warning this time. A scream was slowly making its way up her throat, and she tried to hold it down. Trying to concentrate on where she was, she realized she must be only a few steps past a light post. She forced herself to turn around and take a hesitant step forward, her arms flailing out in all directions. The possibility of her walking right by the post and down the street was all too real.

"Four…five…." Lina was sure the post had been close by. "Six…seven…" the scream was gathering in the pit of her stomach. And then, quite suddenly, her hand touched something cold…something metal. It was the post. Her knees felt rather shaky, and she sank down, her back against the chilly pole.

For the first time, she noticed how strange and silent Ember was. Usually during a blackout people were screaming or calling, sometimes crying. This time though, there was no sound. Lina told herself it wasn't anything to be afraid of. It was only darkness. But the darkness seemed to fill not only the city around her, but the inside of her head as well. She focused on breathing, on staying calm. But it wasn't really working.

"Lina!"

Her head popped up, eyes wide. Doon?

"I'm here!" she whispered, then realized he wouldn't be able to hear her. "At the lamppost, a few doors down!" She called back.

"Don't move, I'm coming!" he called. "But you have to keep talking; I need to know where you are."

Doon was coming.

"I'm here!" she called. "Doon!" He would come and get her, and then the lights would come back on. They would, she told herself. They always did.

She felt something brush her messenger coat, and jumped. "Doon?"

"Lina!" It was Doon. "Just keep a hold of me…the lights will come on." He knelt down in front her and held their hands in between them, on her knees. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, and then replied "Yes, I'm fine."

"Good, come on now, let's get up." He pulled her to her feet. "I think I can find the way back to my house from here, if you keep a hold of me."

Lina moved closer, her fingers curling around his upper arm. She couldn't help noticing how strong he felt…and safe.

Doon stepped back into the street, Lina clinging to his shoulder. He tried to close his eyes and imagine where the houses were, and how far along he was. It was harder then it sounded. Walking hesitatingly, he held his right arm in front of him, feeling for anything like a building or a person. And then his arm brushed against something metal.

"It's another lamppost," he said to Lina. She didn't let go of his arm. Sweeping his arm up and down the post, he felt a piece of paper, hanging by one staple. He stopped, knowing this seemed familiar, and trying to place why. Then it came to him. "I know where we are!" He pulled a startled Lina away from the pole and in a completely different direction.

"Doon, what are you doing? We're going to get lost." She had to walk faster to keep up speed, never letting go of him. She kept tripping over loose cobblestones and pieces of debris and garbage. She was about to try and pull Doon to a stop when he came to a halt. He touched her shoulder that was warm against his "There's a few stairs here." He said, and helped her up them.

Confused, Lina was about to ask him where they were, when he started talking.

"It's my place. Home." Lina gaped at him.

"How did you know…?"

He nudged the door open, moving around in the darkness like a cat, shifting Lina past obstacles. "I recognized the lamp post," he said. "It was a street over from my house; we must have gotten off track. But I remembered where we were when I felt the poster hanging off the pole."

"Here." He stopped walking. "It's a couch, you can sit down."

Lina sat, and Doon stayed standing. Or he might have been walking, he was so quiet she couldn't tell. But she missed his presence.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked her, as if she had just been visiting on any other day. Now that she thought about it, Lina was rather thirsty.

"I'd like some water, thank you." She said.

Lina heard the water running, then a moment later he handed her a mug, and sat down on the couch beside her. She sipped the warm water, which helped relieve her parched throat a little. The silence was heavy between them.

Finally, Doon spoke. "Seventeen minutes, and counting. It's the longest one by far yet."

Lina didn't like to hear him talking about it like that. She wanted to believe that nothing had changed, nothing was going to change. That the world was still good, and Ember safe. "Aren't you afraid?" she asked.

"Of the darkness?" Doon asked. "No, not really. It's just dark. The opposite of light. Just because I can't see you doesn't mean you're not there."

"Are you sure?" Lina whispered. Hearing Doon's voice from across the couch was not the same thing as seeing him. Or feeling him…She put the mug on the floor and brought her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around herself. Blackouts had always frightened her. The absence of color, of shape, of light. Not being able to see her hand in front of her. She shivered involuntarily.

"Are you okay?" Doon asked, and Lina impulsively reached out and touched his arm. He jumped.

"I just need to know that you're there." She said quietly. "I hate the not seeing. It scares me." Then, to her horror, a tear leaked out of her eye. Without really meaning to, she sniffled.

"Lina…hey, hey, don't cry. Please?" For some reason, that made her want to cry all the more. He scooted closer on the sunken couch and awkwardly put his arm around her. She ducked her head against his shoulder and pressed her cheek against his scratchy shirt. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Lina, there's nothing to be sorry about." He replied, stroking her hair.

It was the longest blackout in Ember history, exactly 22 minutes long. But after the first seventeen minutes, Lina wasn't worrying. When the lights came on, Lina lifted her head from Doon's shoulder and blinked blearily around them. Somehow she had managed to end up half in Doon's lap, which was rather more comfortable then the falling apart couch they were seated on. Doon smiled somewhat awkwardly at her, and brushed some of her hair away that had escaped her braid. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked.

She smiled, and sat up properly. "No," she said, touching his arm. "Thank you Doon."

_She realized all at once that Doon, thin, dark-eyed Doon with his troublesome temper and his terrible brown jacket and his good heart—was the person that she knew better then anyone now. He was her best friend_. –The City of Ember, by Jeanne DuPrau

**Reviews are love!**

**p.s. I was having trouble formatting this story (the indents and all that) so if it looks a little wonky, sorry XD**

**ValSilph**


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